BBW photo shoot

fredjclaus

I have been asked to photograph a family where all of them are a bit overweight. Most of them are just say 20 lbs or so, but there is one lady who is on the heavy side at about 300 plus lbs.

This is a close friend of my mother's who has asked me because she knows I will do my best to make her look good. Does anyone have any tips for photography larger people?

Bassman

I've been reading a lot about portrait photography as of late and did see something mentioned about that, and one thing was to try an keep them on an angle, not dead on from front or the side, plus if you have a few other family members in the shoot you may be able to place them "unknowingly" to cover some of the larger persons area .

Blurmore

Angle, orient vertical, don't be afraid to shoot full body and or obscure part of them with an object, prop, or other person.

Vinnie

BBW photo shoot
Being on the large side myself, I find what works best is shooting from a higher angle to help lengthen the neck a bit...also as others suggest standing rather than sitting and partial obstruction works well on an angle if possible.

fredjclaus

Thanks everyone I'll try this and post my results.

vintagemxr

This sounds obvious but work hard on getting the large person to relax. Big people know they are big and many can be extra self-conscious about it when a camera is pointed their way. The best compliment I've ever gotten on one of my photos was from a large women who said "Oh Doug! You made me look beautiful!"

Nikolai

Lighting:
* in HK scenario accentuated rims can help "eat" sides thus making the subject look slimmer, so have your subject to wear white/light clothing.
* in LK scenario use closely positioned frontal stip lighting (plus maybe snooted hair, but no rims) and have subject wear dark clothing. The light will fall off fast, again removing extra lbs from the visibility.

Angle: higher vantage point (as it has been already said)

HTH